James Hickman

Jim Hickman "spent 30 years (1972-2002) developing economic, professional and cultural relations between the United States and the countries within the former Soviet bloc. Recently, he has been developing innovative projects in several countries in Latin America. Hickman has 15 years experience in the financial development of small businesses and start-up companies both in the US and overseas. He spent the 1990’s as a telecommunications executive, co-founding the Russian long-distance company, Rustel, in 1992 and serving as its President from 1992-1997. From 1989-1992, Hickman was CEO of AJ Ventures, Inc., a US company that established commercial enterprises in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia. In 1993, as Vice President of the Gorbachev Foundation, he worked with President Gorbachev (and Jim Garrison) on the Foundation’s international programs. Hickman served as the Director of Programs and Business Affairs for State of the World Forum from 2000-2004 before joining the Forum’s Board of Directors. He co-founded, with Jim Garrison, Mosaic Networks in 2003 as a business consulting firm and oversees its telecommunications contract with Polarnet Project Holdings which is installing an undersea cable system beneath the Arctic Circle that will link Europe, Asia, and North America. Hickman serves on the Executive Committee of the Citizens Democracy Corps, promoting and developing enterprises and NGO’s in emerging and transitional economies. He has a special interest in socially responsible investments and is a member of the Social Venture Network. Hickman wrote the Harper-Collins book, Your Y2K Personal Protection Plan, a citizens’ guide to home and business preparedness for large-scale infrastructure and service breakdowns due to natural or human-made disasters. As a certified instructor from the Institute of HeartMath, he is skilled in teaching emotional preparedness tools for emergency and high-stress situations. Hickman has written numerous articles for such publications as the Wall Street Journal Europe, the Moscow Times, and Inc., Magazine. He is currently writing a book on the water crisis in the United States. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona and Cochabamba, Bolivia."


 * Director, Wisdom University